Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 13, 47-53
'Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet that is cast in the sea and brings in a haul of all kinds of fish.
When it is full, the fishermen bring it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in baskets and throw away those that are no use.
This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the upright,
to throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
'Have you understood all these?' They said, 'Yes.'
And he said to them, 'Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom new things as well as old.'
When Jesus had finished these parables he left the district;
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus continues teaching through parables that very soon the love of God will reign over human life and will defeat the violence of evil. Though God’s reign springs from God’s initiative it cannot happen without human participation. In this parable, Jesus uses the image of a fishing net which is usually very broad and semi-circular. It is thrown into the sea and then hauled ashore. This net, Jesus says, collects a lot of fish. Jesus wants to underline that the kingdom of heaven is large and is for all men and women, without any distinction. The fishermen haul it ashore only when it is full. In this detail the generosity and extent of Jesus’ love is again stressed. In the parable of the sower, as well, the seed is thrown everywhere, without selecting the soil. How different from our mean, self-centred, lazy and stingy measures! The kingdom of heaven aims at collecting everyone! The great heart of the Lord invites us too, at the beginning of this new millennium, not to be stingy when we throw the net, and faithfully try to communicate the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Then Jesus says that, as soon as the net is full of fish, it is hauled ashore where the selection and judgment take place: the righteous are separated from the wicked. This picture recalls the parable of the weeds, but it highlights the time of the final judgment, when the separation will take place. It will be the same for the sheep and the goats, as Matthew tells about the final judgment; there we will be judged according to how we have loved. The righteous are those who have loved. The very distinction made between the righteous and the wicked depends on the care for their neighbours. We have often considered ourselves to be the only judges in our lives. The Lord’s judgment is based on love and it should help us not to loose the greater love of our life. Finally, Jesus asks his disciples if they understood; he wants his saving words to reach the depth of their hearts. So, Jesus tells his disciples that if they understand the meaning of the kingdom of heaven, they will become scribes of the new Law. They will gain the wisdom of the Gospel, but they will be also able to value “old things” that is what comes from human wisdom.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
